IT’S been nearly three years since fashion last braved the peasant invasion.

Just when the last embroidered shirts and frumpy skirts were finally turned into dishrags, along comes this spring’s style craze: Bohemian chic – something that sounds, and sometimes appears – suspiciously similar to that now-dreaded trend.

Confused? So are plenty of others.

“I’m supposed to know trends, since my best friends are in fashion, but, honestly, half the time I have no idea what they’re talking about,” says Jessica Moriarty, a teacher on the Upper West Side.

“They’ll show up in hippie-ish outfits, and I’ll ask, ‘So is hippie back?’ How am I supposed to know that they’re not hippies, but Bohemians? So then the next day, I’ll say that they look so Bohemian, and they’ll say, ‘Uh, it’s not Bohemian. This is a peasant shirt.’

“She’s the sophisticated girl who likes to eat good food and hang out at hot spots. She may be a vegan, but only to save her calories for dessert. She loves luxurious fabrics like cashmere and silks, and big, real jewels like diamonds, topaz and pearls.

As it turns out, spring 2005’s biggest craze is far more calculated than its relaxed appearance suggests.

The look and lifestyle originated in 19th-century Paris, when great literary figures like Baudelaire and Verlaine escaped the bourgeois life and instead chose to live in poverty on the outskirts of society.

Since then, the term has come to be used in reference to artistically inclined individuals who do not adhere to societal norms – in either behavior or dress.

Today, perky celebs like Miller, Kate Hudson and even Jennifer Lopez, at times, work the style with their mismatched ethnic-inspired pieces piled on top of designer accessories and low-slung hipster jeans.